La Biblia en España o viajes, aventuras y prisiones de un inglés en su intento de difundir las Escrituras por la península

by George Borrow

Entre 1836 y 1840 (los años de la primera guerra carlista, la desamortización y la primera regencia), GEORGE BORROW viajó por cuenta de la Sociedad Bíblica británica con el objeto de difundir el Nuevo Testamento en una edición sin comentarios y accesible para todos. La vocación apostólica de «Don Jorgito el inglés» (por ese nombre era conocido en Madrid) lepermitió recorrer media España y ser protagonista o testigo de múltiples incidentes ­encuentros con bandidos, arrestos y detenciones, conspiraciones de gitanos (ocupados de los misteriosos «asuntos de Egipto»), amenazas de muerte­ cuyo recuerdo vertió, a su vuelta a Inglaterra, en LA BIBLIA EN ESPAÑA, libro que alcanzó de inmediato gran éxito y difusión.Manuel Azaña, traductor y prologuista en 1921 de la edición española, señala el novelesco interés de muchas aventuras, que parecen propias de un libro picaresco, pero por encima detodo destaca su carácter de obra de arte, de creación, que lo sitúa entre los mejores libros de su género

Genres: Travel, Spain, Classics, History, Memoir, Nonfiction, Christianity

640 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1843

About the author

George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences traveling around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure prominently in his work. His best known books are The Bible in Spain (1843), the autobiographical Lavengro (1851), and The Romany Rye (1857), about his time with the English Romanichal (gypsies).

Reviews

[Roy Lotz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who wish to make themselves understood by a foreigner in his own language, should speak with much noise and vociferation, opening their mouths wide.

In the year 1835, George Henry Borrow, British traveler and noted eccentric, embarked upon a voyage to Spain with the purpose of making the Holy Bible available to the populace of that hoary nation, and in their native language; freeing that sacred volume from the clutches of friars and priests, who, being papists, jealously guard and keep the scriptures in a language unintelligible to the majority of men and women,—or so opined the author, a proud and uncompromising Protestant.

Mr. Borrow undertook this journey under the direction of the Bible Society, and was chosen for this work due to his previous success, persistence, and tenacity, in propagating the Bible in the vast plains of Russia, where he laboured many long years among poor peasants; and this previous experience was bolstered by Borrow’s prodigious facility in acquiring languages, being possessed, if we are to believe his report of himself, of the Latin, French, Italian, Gaelic, Russian, Arabic, Romani, German, and both the modern and ancient Greek languages,—this list may not be complete,—in addition to his fluency in Portuguese and Spanish, the two dialects on which he was to rely during his time in the Iberian Peninsula.

This book, the record of this noble errand, was pieced together from journal entries, letters, and Mr. Borrow’s apparently remarkable faculty of memory; and narrates his misadventures suffered, voyages undertaken, obstacles overcome, and successes gained, in a style verbose and tending towards the periodic sentence, with hypotaxis being his most habitual mode of expression; a style, nonetheless, of vigour and charm; its only fault, being a tendency to unfurl itself in a monotonous, seemingly endless, series, built of commas and semicolons, that, if imbibed to excess, can have the same soporific effects of opium upon the senses of the reader.

Being a book of travels, much of Mr. Borrow’s narrative, if not the majority, consists of descriptions of noble edifices, foreign cities, strange landscapes, and other vistas of entrancing beauty; as well as many stories of incompetent footmen, derelict guides, incommodious accommodations, unscrupulous innkeepers, and all of the diverse and profuse inconveniences suffered by any traveler in a foreign land; these being supplemented by several vignettes, or sketches, of striking personalities encountered by Mr. Borrow, these personages being from many different classes, creeds, and nations; all of this detail and description serving as the backdrop to Mr. Borrow’s laborious task, selling the Bible in a land generally hostile and suspicious of the Protestant religion, the opposition of the authorities more than once thwarting Mr. Borrow in his noble errand; and this is not to mention the continual fighting, and concomitant destruction of land and property, and the resultant poverty experienced by the people, putting aside the brigandage and banditry rampant across the land, occasioned by the Carlist Civil War.

For all of its merits, and these are many and conspicuous, this book, however, cannot be recommended as providing any significant insight into the culture and history of the Spanish nation, being too absorbed in Mr. Borrow’s own private worries and concerns, and too involved in the slight and superficial impressions gained by the traveler; and seeing as this, namely, gaining knowledge of the Spanish nation, was my primary object in picking up the book, I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed; this disappointment being, I should hastily add, partly counterweighted by the eccentricity and peculiarity of this book, whose style, and whose narrator, while perhaps not brilliant, nor profound, nor even greatly compelling, are, at least, so distinct, that they are impressed upon the soul of the reader, not to be erased by any subsequent experience.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A description of a journey through 19th century Spain by a man convinced that the chaos,murder, poverty and hatred he encounters can be resolved through the distribution of the new testament in vernacular languages. This is as much a journey into the mindset of a 19th century Englishman as it is a journey into Spain & Portugal, but nowhere else will you read the thoughts of a man who speaks to prime ministers, gypsies, innkeepers, Jews, muslims, the mad, the dangerous and the clever, and the stupid.
His proselytisms and rumination on religion are short, and barely noticeable and more about politics and bureaucracy than any particular aspect of relgion. So theophobes be assured that you won’t have to endure too of him waxing lyrical about his lord.
Theophiles might find it a bit lacking.
As i say he was a 19th century man and so his opinions on race are at the very least dated.

[Richard Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although The Bible in Spain reflects George Borrow's evangelical faith – and prejudices - the book has more the character of an entertaining travelogue than a pious "missionary memoir". The author's views on "popery" are strident, and there are some unhappy references to “cunning”-looking Jews, but Borrow had an ethnographer's temperament and explorer's eye, and he enjoyed mixing with all sorts of people – in particular, he had an affinity for gypsies. Unusually, bandits and even killers are presented more as colourful rogues than as wicked sinners. Evangelical scruples did not prevent him from making life easier for himself by dissembling his opinions – "I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep" – nor did they inhibit him from making unkind observations about the personal appearance of others: "every feature of his face was ugly, exceedingly and bitterly ugly"; "an ugly, fat Jewish girl with an immense mole on her cheek". This habit eventually devolves into racism: "as well-looking as It is possible for a negro to be… his features exceedingly well formed and delicate, with the exception of the lips, which were too full".

The author made three visits to Spain in the 1830s, during the first Carlist war; on the first occasion he arrived via Portugal, and there is a lengthy prelude as he traverses towards the border. In the last part of the book he passes through Gibraltar and reaches North Africa, where the narrative ends abruptly mid-flow. Borrow respected Muslims, appreciating their strict iconoclasm in contrast to Catholicism.

The structure is episodic, with Borrow riding cross-country and staying in numerous posadas (hostels). It all becomes something of a blur, although some incidents – such as being arrested in Madrid – are vivid. Borrow is accompanied by a succession of valets who play Sam Weller to his Mr Pickwick, the most memorable being Antonio Buchini, despite his name a Greek rather than an Italian. Several historic figures appear in the story – Borrow enjoyed the support of George Villiers, who was the British Ambassador in Madrid, and "Baron Taylor", more properly Baron Isidore Justin Séverin Taylor, makes an unexpected appearance as an old friend encountered by chance. At one stage Borrow observed Vicente Genaro de Quesada deal with a public disturbance, and his dealings brought him into the presence of Prime Minister Juan Álvarez Mendizábal and later his (brief) successor Francisco Javier de Istúriz, the latter portrayed as a depressive whom Borrows judged "exhibited all the appearance of a person meditating" suicide.

There are also some other intriguing individuals. One intermittent interlocutor is a Swiss-German treasure hunter named Benedict Mol, who was convinced that some "schatz" was concealed underneath the church of San Roque at Compostela. Alas, after raising the expectations of the locals, breaking open the floor released only "a horrible and fetid odour", and Mol was thrown into prison and very nearly lynched. Another is Judah Lib, a Jerusalemite who had travelled widely, even as far as Kazan in Russia, in search of his missing father. Both have since been the subject of biographical studies. More eerie is a young blind girl dubbed by Borrow the "Manchegan Prophetess".

With all this mass of detail and digression – an account by Antonio of how he had offended a former employer is a typical vignette – it's possible to overlook the whole point of Borrow’s venture, as advertised by the title of the book. His purpose was to print and distribute cheap editions of the New Testament, on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in Spanish and in the gypsy language Gitano. The need for such a volume, according to Borrow, was recognised by a sympathetic government minister, who referred to an edition that "would be within the reach of all classes of society, the highest or poorest, one unencumbered with notes and commentaries, human devices, swelling it to an unwieldy bulk". The impression Borrow gives of Spain is of a populace generally fed up with priests and friars.

Borrow made links with various booksellers, some of whom became his agents. There was, though, always a risk of government censorship. One bookseller, named Rey Romano, has an account:

"We booksellers of Spain," said he, “"re all Liberals, we are no friends to the monkish system How, indeed, should we be friends to it? It fosters darkness, whilst we live by disseminating light We love our profession, and have all more or less suffered for it, many of us, in the times of terror, were hanged for selling an innocent translation from the French or English. Shortly after the Constitution was put down by Angoulême and the French bayonets, I was obliged to flee from St James, and take refuge in the wildest part of Galicia, near Corcuvion. Had I not possessed good friends, I should not have been alive now, as it was, it cost me a consider able sum of money to arrange matters Whilst I was away, my shop was in charge of the ecclesiastical officers They frequently told my wife that I ought to be burnt for the books which I had sold Thanks be to God, those times are past, and I hope they will never return."

In one case, government officials (alguazils) impounded some volumes but then decided they could profit more by selling them on, "thus becoming unintentionally agents of a heretical society".

Borrow apparently had an exceptional facility for language, although I was sceptical when I read his advice that those who wish to be understood should speak “with much noise and vociferation, opening their mouths wide”.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title fool you. This book-- and all of Borrow's other travel books-- are gems that originate the modern travel book. Borrow was a soldier's son with such a preternatural gift for languages that he taught himself Mandarin Chinese from a dictionary and translated the Bible into that language. Not being a rich man's son, he had difficulty pursuing a literary career-- but he finally ended up working for a Bible Society, for which he had translated the Bible into the language of the Spanish gypsies as well as Spanish. At the end of the 18th century no one in Spain could read the Bible unless they could read Greek or Latin. Borrow set off with a cargo of translations and a couple of donkeys and planted copies of God's word all over Spain. He ran into trouble with the Church as well as the aristocracy, which both were eager to keep the actual text of God's word out of the hands of the common people. He met attacks and other challenges with wit, generosity, courage and an anthropologist's eye. And he is also a great stylist! I can't understand why he is not more widely read.

[Torben · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is somewhat misleading. Although ostensibly about the author’s attempts to bring the New Testament to Spain, it deals with more than religious matters. While it does contain the occasional pious remark or rant against Popery, the majority of Borrow’s account deals with the interesting and “singular” characters that he meets on the road. His ability to get along with people from all sections of society is quite incredible; mixing with Spanish nobility as easily as he does with people on the margins of Spanish society. His dry humour comes across well in these encounters as does his gentlemanly nature. He seems, in fact, to prefer the company of the “lower orders”: Gypsies, peasants, criminals etc. and it is with these people that his most interesting conversations take place. Borrow seems to have been rather a brave character, facing as he did, attacks from an angry Catholic clergy and the dangers of travelling through bandit infested Spain in the middle of the Carlist War.
I found this book to be an interesting account of life in 19th century Spain, as seen through the eyes of an Englishman. It made me look differently at places I have already visited and also brought to my attention places and things I didn’t know about, such as the German colonists in Andalusia and the Maragatos of Leon.

[David Sogge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book recounts adventures and observations of a travelling salesman in risky corners of a country during a civil war. It’s a kind of picaresque: the oddball main figure is forever getting into scrapes, yet always besting adversaries and continuing to run into remarkable, even bizarre characters who spin fabulous yarns. Almost always accompanied by a guide/factotum/fixer, the figures resemble Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, though our hero rides on much better horses than the Knight’s old nag Rocinante. Getting around and into far-off corners of Spain, such as the damp and mountainous Galicia, obliged Borrow to devote a lot of time and expense to see that he and his sidekicks had adequate means of conveyance. And his horses, like his guides, had to put up with a lot, such as riding over treacherous trails until the small hours of the morning, often in total darkness. Borrow dramatizes (and probably over-eggs) some episodes and dialogues, adding extra zest to the narrative. But there are long tiresome bits too, especially when he takes up the missionary position and talks up his salesmanship. The prose is quaint, often circumloquacious, and peppered with Spanish or French expressions. Fortunately an annotated version is freely available at: https://bible-in-spain-annotated.net/

[Ronald Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The detailed description of the journeys of George Borrow while he worked for the English Bible Society to distribute New Testaments and Bibles on the Iberian Peninsula. Borrow traveled there in 1836 and 1837 during a civil war over the Spanish throne, but the real tensions he faced dealt with personal religious beliefs and ethnic suspicions. Borrow seemed rather adept at picking up languages like that of the Gitano (Spanish Romani or Gypsies) and his distribution of Gitano books won their admiration while increasing the distrust of the priests. It was very interesting that the translation and distribution of the Bible was considered heretical by the Catholic Church. But then I started remembering the crazy religious groups that have arisen recently from whacky interpretations of the Bible, and can understand their concern. I learned of this book through a tribute to Borrow's birthday on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A combination of travelogue and missionary story of events around 1840, this two-volume narrative has endnotes generated in 1896, clarifying some things which Borrow refers to in his day which already had changed names by 1896 or turned out to be erroneous statements. Borrow sometimes goes for many chapters without mentioning his distribution of scriptures, but at other times his experiences are quite interesting, including imprisonment. The Roman church had fought very hard against the Bible in Germany, Switzerland, and England in prior centuries, but the battle was fierce in Spain in the 19th century as well. As not all his opinions are uncolored by prejudice, it is difficult to judge motives of the other characters, but it is an interesting view into Portugal, Spain, and Morocco in that time. Most interesting to me was the number of Spanish (and Portuguese) words which closely resembled Arabic words, many more than I was aware of.

[Juan León · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo que parece un ensayo histórico se convierte en una novela de aventuras sobre la España de la primera guerra carlista. Interesante comprobar cómo la influencia de la iglesia católica en el país no es a través de dar herramientas ni conocimiento a sus súbditos sino de alienarlos. Es una obra que apenas se centra en lo que parece (cosa que me consuela) aunque al final desvaríe mucho.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was convinced this was a fiction posing as a real travelogue.. But no, a real person actually wrote this. Fascinating.


Pg 30
"Papists and ​Miguelites." He's an Anglican? (Later another person speculates he's a Lutheran though?)
Wiki: In the history of Portugal, a Miguelite is a supporter of the legitimacy of the king Miguel I of Portugal and his descendants.

Pg 35
Volney's Ruins of Empires
Auto da fé
Priestcraft & monkish system

Pg 47
Russian custom to take off your hat anytime you enter a hut, shop, or palace -- because of the Blessed Virgin
"Ephraimite vs of Gilead" -- the Ephraimites, feeling superior, belittle the Gileadites as "fugitives" or "renegades".

Pg 49
"A certain person is a disgrace to the church of which he pretends to be the servant."

Pg 61
The Druid's stone

[Iñaki Tofiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peculiar travelogue of a peculiar character, a member of the Bible Society who at the beginning of the 19th century decides to travel to Spain to sell cheap copies of the New Testament in Spanish and in Calo, the language of Spanish gypsies. He comes across all sorts of characters and is undeterred by persecution of religious authorities, bad weather or imprisonment. He is a man with a mission!
Along the way he meets people from all sorts of life and welcomes and treats them all with kindness and respect, showing a keen interest in their ways of life. Apart from his hatred of "Papists" and a hint of antisemitism, his is an interesting picture of a Spain torn by Carlist civil wars.

[Mike Pinter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesantísimo viaje por Portugal, España y el norte de África en una época interesante. Curioso cometido el que tenía este hombre, y mucha suerte al viajar sin que le robaran siquiera una vez cuando era muy común que pasara.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has never before read Borrow is in for a treat. He was one of the first 'travel' writers, albeit motivated in his peregrinations by missionary religion and cultural curiosity, rather than the idle cleverness which afflicts his contemporary inheritors. He is sharp, funny, bigoted, and clear-sighted, sympathetic and contemptuous in turn toward his hosts, but never less than lucid and intelligent. *And* he was tortured by the Inquisition for his Protestant pains - which is considerably more than can be said for the kind of PC literary warriors regularly commissioned by The Guardian these days to explore Foreign Parts...

[larry brashear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly Interesting Reading

I liked this book because it is unique and has a historic aspect in it's presentation. The Moors were factually portrayed as typically arrogant Muslims for the most part.

[Michael Schmid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I expected... This lengthy book is an account of an Englishman who travels throughout Spain in the 19th century in order to sell/distribute copies of the Bible. He writes about his travels, the places he visited, the people he met and the difficulties he encountered. There does not seem to be a plot and the ending is also quite abrupt.